US STOCKS-Wall St sharply higher on upbeat jobs data

Dec 4 (Reuters) - All three major U.S. indexes were up more
than a percent on Friday after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs
data built the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest
rates this month for the first time in nearly a decade.

All but one of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher. The
energy index fell after sources told Reuters that OPEC would
maintain its production in an oversupplied market.

The financials index led the advancers with a rise
of 1.9 percent.

Benchmark Brent oil futures and U.S. crude futures
were down about 2 percent on the OPEC news.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 211,000 in November, the Labor
Department reported, while September and October data was
revised to show 35,000 more jobs than previously reported.

The unemployment rate held at a 7-1/2-year low of 5 percent,
even as people returned to the labor force in a sign of
confidence in the jobs market.

"Investors are looking at a potential of a Fed tightening as
a glass half full. They are celebrating that the economy is
strong enough to sustain higher interest rates," Jack Ablin,
chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago, said.

Fed funds futures contracts showed that traders see about an
80 percent chance that the Federal Reserve will raise interest
rates in December, up from 79 percent before the jobs report.

"The (data) cements a rate hike in December," Art Hogan,
chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York,
said.

The Fed's policy-setting committee will meet on Dec. 15-16.

The closely watched employment report came a day after Fed
Chair Janet Yellen struck an upbeat note on the economy when she
testified before lawmakers, describing how it had largely met
the criteria for a rate hike.

The S&P 500 suffered its biggest daily drop since late
September on Thursday after the European Central Bank
disappointed market hopes for a more aggressive economic
stimulus program.

At 11:13 a.m. ET (1613 GMT) on Friday, the Dow Jones
industrial average was up 253.55 points, or 1.45 percent,
at 17,731.22, the S&P 500 was up 27.56 points, or 1.34
percent, at 2,077.18 and the Nasdaq Composite was up
72.11 points, or 1.43 percent, at 5,109.63.

Avon Products rose 10.3 percent to $4.40 after
private equity investor group led by Barington Capital proposed
a restructuring of the cosmetics maker.

JPMorgan Chase rose 2.3 percent to $67.33 after the
European antitrust regulators dropped charges against the bank
on blocking exchanges from derivatives markets.